Two men ‘nearly killed’ a friend on a night out after launching a savage and seemingly unprovoked attack.

Darren Clayton, 32, of Primrose Road in Bude, and Jason Stewart, 31, of The Square in Bude, were both on a night out in the town on December 17, 2016, when they launched the ferocious attack on Craig Scott Wood.

Mr Wood was left so severely injured that a medical assessment initially showed that he had almost died.

Both Clayton and Stewart appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentence on Friday (August 10) after pleading guilty to unlawful wounding at a previous hearing.

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For Stewart, Jo Martin QC said that he was a man of effective good character, having not been in trouble for many years, and that it was his first time out drinking since the death of his wife, leaving him as the sole carer for his son.

Darren Clayton

Mitigating on behalf of Clayton, Piers Norsworthy said that it was clear that for a vast proportion of the incident Clayton had been trying to diffuse the situation until he briefly became involved.

Miss Martin said that Clayton, who has four children whom he regularly sees, had suffered problems with alcohol which he had taken steps to address.

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“Neither of you have any memory of events and that is an indicator of how much you drank, I consider that as an aggravating factor.

“The fact that the victim was your friend makes this offence more bizarre.

“Your previous offending is over a decade ago and you have both taken on responsibilities leaving your old lives behind. I also accept you have both showed genuine response.”

Both Stewart and Clayton were given a 21-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. They were both made subject of a three-month 8pm to 5am curfew and told to complete 120 hours of unpaid work. They must both pay Mr Wood £1,000 in compensation and £250 towards court costs.

Clayton must also undertake a rehabilitation requirement to address his alcohol misuse.